cover image A Bride Unveiled

A Bride Unveiled

Jillian Hunter. Signet Eclipse, $7.99 mass market (352p) ISBN 978-0-451-41311-6

Hunter’s second Bridal Pleasures historical romance (after A Duke’s Temptation) springs from an innocent childhood friendship in the 19th-century English countryside. Miss Violet Knowlton is the naïve ward of her aunt and uncle; Kit is a workhouse boy who escapes “the palace” on occasion to explore the churchyard graves. Too soon, the two must abandon child’s play for the adult world. When they chance to meet again during an impressive performance of Kit’s swordsmanship, he is surprised to find Violet a gentlewoman, rising in society and betrothed to boorish Sir Godfrey. As they dance together for the first time, memories of their friendship add “a secret intimacy, a whisper of spice to their reunion.” With so much against them, however, can their renewed affair stand a chance? Hunter draws the reader in with a compelling plot and engaging characters in this smoothly written tale of love lost and found. (Oct.)